CONTROL DEL SISTEMA DE GESTIÓN

Individual semi structured interviews

A semi-structured interview schedule of 68 (this number included

prompts and follow up questions) open-ended questions was developed to elicit qualitative information about each participant’s experience from their own

perspective and to generate data relevant to career termination issues.

Specifically, the formulation of the specific questions was guided by the conceptual model of adaptation to career transition put forward by Taylor and Ogilvie (1998). In semi-structured interviews, the open-ended nature of the questions provides opportunities for both interviewer and interviewee to discuss some topics in more detail. If the person that is being interviewed cannot

respond to a specific question or provides only a brief answer, the interviewer can use prompts to encourage and help the interviewee to think further the question.

The interview schedule was organized into six parts: 1) general demographic information (e.g., age, marital status, occupational status), 2) sport demographic information (e.g., sport specialization, highest achievement, profile of relationships with the social network including coach, family, partner, and friends), 3) sports career termination (with an emphasis on the role of athlete’s social network), 4) transitional period (e.g., feelings, social support), 5) post-athletic career and 6) reflections on sports career and recommendations for athletes in transition and significant others. (See Appendix A. for details of the interview questions). However, it must be pointed out that the sports career termination part included most of the questions formed as it was consisted part of the main aims of the present study.

18 female former elite athletes from several parts of Greece were

contacted by phone and asked to participate in the study. All of the participants agreed to participate. An introductory letter was mailed subsequently to each of the eighteen retired athletes, explaining in detail the purpose, the significance, and the voluntary nature of the study. Also, they were assured that

confidentiality and anonymity issues would be respected and that they could terminate the interview at any time. Then a convenient time and location was arranged for the interview. All the interviews were conducted face-to-face. With permission of the respondents, a tape recorder was used to record the

interviews in order to ensure accuracy and to provide extensive data; interviews lasted from 40 to 60 minutes. In addition, participants were made aware that a copy of their responses would be available for them in case they want to check the accuracy or request the removal of their data. At the time of the interview, they were also told that they could expand their answers, giving as much detail as they could.

The names, postal addresses and telephones of all national team

athletes who had formally retired from International competition, were provided by the “Woman and Sport” Subcommittee of the Greek Olympic Committee.

University’s Ethical Advisory Committee approval was sought and given.

Life histories

Two female former elite athletes from Athens who had retired from professional track and field athletics were contacted by phone, they were informed of the nature of the study and encouraged to become fully engaged in this research (Moustakas, 1994). A letter explaining the purpose of the study was mailed requesting their confidential participation in this research study. They both agreed to participate. A comfortable environment, was provided in which the participants would be more inclined to respond honestly and comprehensively (Moustakas, 1994). As “experts” on the phenomenon of sports career termination, they were encouraged to join with me as truthful seekers of knowledge and understanding (Moustakas, 1994) of the sport- career transition experience with the understanding that their experiences,

program designed to help future elite female athletes from track and field athletics cope with their sport-career transition. Participants were asked to seat comfortably at their working environments and to be informal and spontaneous in telling the story of their lives that included: “how did you begin participating in elite sport; what life was like when you were competing; how was your personal and social relationships (partner, family, coach) when you were elite athlete; how did you decide terminating your career; during sports career termination; what life was like after athletic retirement; how was your social and personal relationships after athletic retirement; what life is like right now; and what you think life will be like in the future.”

Doing narrative research, one should take into consideration whether to rely on a single interview or whether to conduct more than one interview with each participant (Elliott, 2005). Seidman (1998) suggested that three interviews should be conducted with each respondent whereof the first one should focus on the life history of the narrator, who should be asked to talk about his/her past life leading up to the topic of interest. The second interview should focus on the interviewee’s present experiences and in the third one the respondent should express his/her personal reflections of those experiences. Seidman stated that conducting three interviews helps with establishing the validity of the results, as the researcher is able to check that the participant is consistent across these three interviews. In addition, in Hollway and Jefferson’s (2000) study on the fear of crime in a British city, the use of two interviews helped the researchers to build up a trusting relationship with the participants and to show them that they were interested in hearing their experiences.

Thus, four interviews were completed with the two participants which included one interview and a follow up discussion with each individual following the initial interview. The first interview was about making introductions, clarifying the purpose of the study, outlining what the interviews would be about, answering any questions the person might had, and starting to build up a picture of their background and their life now. Also during the first interview each participant was asked to provide an account of her life in her own words. Probes and prompts were given to provide or clarify meaning, and to gain more depth. The aim was to leave as much as possible of the talking to the informant. The

second interview placed more emphasis on the evaluative aspects of narrative (Kohli, 1981). As well as filling out the details of their life story, participants were also encouraged to explore their feelings as athletes, to talk about their relationships (coach, parents, friends, partner), to reflect on their experience of their athletic retirement, and to evaluate their current life in comparison with their life when they were competing.

Temporal ordering implies causality to events in a narrative, what happens next is dependent on what happens now (Labov, 1982). Without this causal progression, a series of clauses relating events cannot be considered a narrative. Labov further analyzed the narrative structure to define five other features of the narrative: a) orientation, in which time, place and person are identified, b) abstract, in which the story is summarized, c) complicating action, in which the story is told but also other stories may be begun, and finally the narrative is concluded by d) an evaluation, in which the point of the story is underlined and, e) a coda, which brings narrator and listener back to the present. They, together, define the scope of the narrative, showing where it begins and where it ends.

Thus, in order for a temporal order to be followed in the present in-depth life history interviews as suggested by Labov (1982), the present narrative structure fell into the following categories: (1) orientation, (2) abstract, (3) complicating action, (4) evaluation, (5) coda. The “Orientation” category was identified through the questions ‘who were the persons involved in the athlete’s narrative?’, ‘When did the events take place?’, ‘What were the events?’ The “abstract” category was identified by asking the question ‘What was the narrative about?’. The answer served as a brief summary of the whole

narrative. The answers to these questions identified the time, place and people involved in the event. The “complicating action” was elicited through the

question ‘Then what happened?’, until the narrative to be concluded. The “evaluation” category provided the emotional side of the narrative and gave information about how the athlete felt about the situation she experienced. Finally the “coda” category indicates closure. The athlete provided her expressions and observations about the event of sports career termination connecting the past to the present.

The interviews were tape-recorded with the informant's consent and later transcribed.The length of the four life history interviews lasted between 70 and 90 minutes.

The names, postal addresses and telephones of the two national team athletes who had formally retired from International competition were provided by the researcher.